


Monochrome Hearts

by FallingLikeThis



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Blind Harry, Colors, London Underground, M/M, Spying, but like being nosey spying, not government spying, please read the author's note for slight but possible triggering content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:13:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25396714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallingLikeThis/pseuds/FallingLikeThis
Summary: Louis Tomlinson is a 27-year-old that just wants to see the world in color after a lifetime of shades of grey. And, oh yeah, having his soulmate by his side would be nice too. Maybe that's even the most important part.Harry Styles is a 25-year-old who loves hearing soulmate stories, never believing he'll have one of his own, and has never seen anything at all.Which begs the question; when finding your soulmate brings color to the world, what happens when your soulmate is blind??
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan/Zayn Malik
Comments: 45
Kudos: 301
Collections: Prompt 3.4: Sin





	Monochrome Hearts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ladyinbooks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladyinbooks/gifts).



> Here is the fic I promised you ages ago!  
> The word sin is Spanish for "without" so I took that approach. Hope you like it. 
> 
> A/N: There's a comment late in the fic about someone being suicidal that is used for dramatics. It's the only comment of the sort but If this is triggering or makes you uncomfortable in any way, please avoid this fic and keep yourself safe. 
> 
> This is part of a Wordplay prompt challenge for the prompt "sin". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/sin), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge (including years 1-3), [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works). You can also find the masterpost for this year’s challenge [here](https://wordplayfics.tumblr.com/post/622306139518926848/wordplay-2020-every-week-for-five-weeks-a-prompt).

**L**

Louis sighs, trying to watch this film and ignore his best friends canoodling on the sofa next to him. It really sucks having best friends who are soulmates.

“Can you knock it off?” He asks testily, elbowing Niall in the ribs.

“Ow,” Niall complains, pulling off of Zayn’s mouth long enough to shoot Louis a glare. “Excuse me for existing.”

“Existing on Zayn’s face,” Louis grumbles, staring at the television but seeing nothing.

“Why don’t we order some pizza?” Zayn asks, untangling himself from Niall and reaching for his phone.

“Ooh, yeah,” Niall hums in agreement. “With extra pepperoni.”

“Great,” Louis bites out. “Something else for Niall to stuff his face with.”

“What is your problem?!” Niall asks, twisting in his seat to face Louis fully. There’s a look of betrayal in his eyes and Louis’ stomach churns with guilt. It’s not Niall’s fault that he’s found his soulmate and Louis hasn’t. It’s not his fault that he sees the world in more than shades of grey ever since he bumped into Zayn that day at Tesco. Louis loves Niall. He’s a great guy and a perfect match for Zayn.

Louis exhales harshly, letting his forehead fall into his hand and closing his eyes for a second. After giving himself a moment to think, he lifts his head and aims an apologetic look at Niall. “I’m sorry, Niall. You didn’t deserve any of that. I’m just going to head home, guys. I don’t think I’m up for movie night.”

“No,” Zayn tries to protest, even as Louis makes his way to the door to tug on his shoes. “Stay. We’re ordering pizza and there’s plenty of beer in the fridge. We can watch The Walking Dead and drink every time someone dies or gets lost.”

Louis laughs and shakes his head, shoes on his feet and coat already in hand. “As appetizing as that sounds, I think I’m gonna pass. Maybe I’ll go out, give this soulmate of mine another chance to find me.”

Zayn smothers Louis in a hug before he’ll let him leave. “It’ll happen, Lou.” He promises, squeezing his best friend tightly.

Louis nods and smiles and accepts Zayn’s comment without argument. Even when he’s not sure he believes it anymore.

*****

Louis thinks twenty-seven years is a decent amount of time to wait for your soul mate. He knows a lot of people have waited longer. He knows he’s just being an impatient brat, but he longs for love, dammit. The real kind that lasts more than a single night and doesn’t end with a cold spot on the other side of the bed in the morning. And if that wasn’t enough, he yearns for the unknown, that just out of reach promise of color. To see the world in a whole new light.

All of his friends have found their soulmates by now and Louis is happy for them, he truly is, but he’s having more and more trouble convincing himself that seeing the world in color isn’t a big deal. People always say ‘You can’t miss what you never had’ but, well, that’s just a crock of shit, isn’t it? Because people, whether they mean to or not, are always rubbing in your face how wonderful it is. They try to describe it but you can’t describe color to someone who’s never seen it. So, Louis is left with both the loneliness of having no soulmate to share his life with and this insane curiosity, this need to know what he’s missing out on.

Louis has been pretty lucky in his life, he’ll admit. He’s able to get most things that he wants. Which is making the fact that he hasn’t found his soulmate yet get under his skin even more. He tries to tell himself that he doesn’t need a soulmate but even as he does he knows he’s full of shit, and seeing people like Niall and Zayn so happy together only makes it worse.

So, Louis goes out. He goes to pubs and clubs. He drinks, he dances, and he tries to get the need for a soulmate fucked out of him. It doesn’t work but he lets himself pretend that, eventually, it will.

*****

Louis lifts his drink to his lips, swaying his hips to the music, trying to attract some attention to himself.

He doesn’t have to try hard. Immediately, there are several sets of eyes trained on his arse. He has to admit that it does look fantastic in the jeggings he’s wearing.

Tilting his head coquettishly at the man just down the bar, Louis gives him a come hither look under his eyelashes. He’s been told he has beautiful eyelashes and he’s not above using them to his advantage. The man, tall and broad, just the way Louis likes his men, receives the message and starts making his way over.

“Can I buy you another drink?” he asks, leaning against the bar casually as though he’s not hoping to take Louis home tonight. Louis can see through his act. It’s in the way he licks his lips while his eyes flick down Louis’ body, the way he fists a napkin that was sitting on the bar to hide how he wishes it was Louis’ arse in his hands.

“Maybe later,” Louis smirks at him. “Right now, I feel like dancing.”

Louis reaches lightly for the man’s hand and pauses for a moment. When the world remains colorless, Louis returns to motion, leading the man to the dance floor. It’s disappointing but not unexpected that this man is not his soulmate either. 

They make their way to the middle of the crowded dance floor, Louis already raising his arms above his head to move sensually to the music. His partner’s hands go to his waist, holding him possessively and Louis likes that. Even if they aren’t soulmates, it’s nice to be wanted even in the moment.

Louis is hot and sweaty an hour later, ready to lead his partner off the dancefloor and into a cab back to his flat when it happens. The man he’s been dancing with bumps into one half of another couple and immediately stops moving, jaw dropping open while he looks around him as though seeing the world for the first time. 

It’s like a trainwreck Louis can’t stop watching as the two men turn to each other, shy smiles on their faces and something like forever in their gazes. Louis’ arms drop to his sides and he can feel the movement mirrored in his heart. His dance partner turns back to him with a look of apology which Louis waves off goodnaturedly even though he’s absolutely reeling with bitterness inside. It’s not this guy’s fault that Fate enjoys laughing at Louis’ pain. 

The soulmates join hands, waving to the casualties of their union, and leaving them to bleed alone on the dancefloor. Except, they’re not alone, are they? Louis turns to the other guy left standing there, a tall guy with dark skin and a bright smile when he catches Louis looking and the two of them move closer together. 

They dance with each other with renewed energy, or maybe it’s desperation, but neither of them touch, the rejection too raw to risk feeling it again should they touch and find out that they’re not soulmates. They’re probably not, and they likely both know it, but neither seems to want to confirm it, prolonging their chance. Living in the moment of possibility.

It’s only when they’re both ready to leave, preparing to either say “goodbye” or “go home with me” that they touch, a hopeful grasp of fingers that ends with a disappointed sigh and dropped hands. 

“Well, goodnight,” Louis says.

“Yeah, you too,” the other man returns with a sad smile. 

It’s on the lonely walk home that Louis admits to himself that he’s losing hope. And from there, the next logical step is to give up entirely.

So he does.

He wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes home, orders take away for one (endures the delivery boy’s pitying looks with a well-practiced glare), and goes to bed alone. Wash, rinse, repeat.

**> _< H >_<**

The tube is hard for Harry. There are so many people, bodies crushed together and rushing from point A to point B. He has to have a friend with him at all times or he simply can’t do it. And he kind of hates asking that of Liam because he knows that Liam will never tell him ‘no’ simply because he’s such a good person. It’s a difficult situation for a blind guy.

Harry has to get to work though, so he lets himself be forever indebted to Liam and endures the tight fit and overwhelming scents. He bumps into people often despite constantly having a grip on Liam’s arm but it doesn’t really seem like it would be avoidable even if he could see, so Harry apologizes politely (even though he’s sure that they’ve wandered off again already) and moves on.

Harry doesn’t notice that this time is different. This time, when he bumps into someone, the man stops moving, looking around him in wonder at all the amazing colors that Harry will never see.

And by the time the man turns around, looking for the source of his sudden change of perspective, Harry is already gone.

**< /3 L </3**

They say that when you stop looking is when you find the thing you were searching for.

Don’t tell Louis that.

He’ll smack you.

Hard.

And then he’ll enjoy the way that your cheek gets all pink and blotchy from it. For about 5 seconds before he goes back to feeling angry at you and sorry for himself.

Because he may have found color, but his soulmate didn’t stick around to share it with him.

WTF, Fate?!?

**^H^**

“Hello, Mrs. Weisman,” Harry says with a smile, stopping in front of the receptionist’s desk. He knows when she’s there by the familiar clacking of her keyboard. She types unlike anyone he’s ever heard before. It’s a very distinct sound.

“You smell amazing,” Harry flirts teasingly. “What is that?”

“It’s a new Italian perfume,” the fifty-year-old secretary informs him, with a ridiculous smile on her face. “My husband got it for me for our anniversary.”

“Oh! When was your anniversary? Why didn’t you tell me?” Harry asks, playfully offended that he’s just now finding out.

“It was Saturday,” Mrs. Weisman answers, preening a bit. It doesn’t matter that Harry can’t see her or that she knows that his flirting doesn’t mean anything. Soulmate or no, a young man showing interest of any kind still makes her feel good about herself.

“Well, congratulations. How long’s it been?” Harry asks, leaning casually against the desk.

“27 years,” she answers, remembering the day she met her soulmate fondly.

“Harry, get a move on!”

Harry hears Niall yell at him and offers a sad smile to the receptionist. “He’s a lucky man. You’ll have to tell me the story sometime. Congratulations again!”

Harry loves hearing the stories of how people met their soulmates. He doesn’t dwell on the fact that he probably doesn’t have one. In a world where finding your soulmate depends on your sight changing, Harry’s never held out much hope for himself. He chooses instead to live vicariously through the stories of others.

It’s not until Harry is alone at his desk that he realizes that he feels different. There’s this buzzing under his skin. And he feels like he’s lost something. Something he needs to find but he doesn’t have a clue where to search. He tries to ignore it as he gets to work, putting on his headset and logging himself in to his computer, but it nags at him all day.

**~L~**

Louis’ first instinct is to believe that his soulmate took one look at him and ran the other way. He’s always been a bit of a defeatist, expecting the worst to be true when bad things happen. So, in his mind, there’s no other reason for the sudden disappearance of his soulmate than that they simply didn’t want him.

Zayn seems to think otherwise. Because why would anyone throw away a guarantee at love when it was right in front of their face.

“Something must have happened, Lou,” he insists. “Maybe they got pushed along with the crowd before they realized and when they went back, you’d already left.”

Louis scoffs into Zayn’s shoulder where he’s cuddled into his friend on the couch in Zayn’s flat. He hadn’t much felt like going home alone knowing that there was someone meant to be there with him. “I stood there for a good fifteen minutes, mate,” he argues. “They had plenty of time to come find me. They just didn’t.”

“Lou, I’m telling you,” Zayn maintains, “there’s no way they would have walked away without a good reason. I refuse to believe that your soulmate is an idiot, and only an idiot would have walked away from you of their own free will.”

Louis smiles sadly, wishing he could believe Zayn’s kind words, but he just doesn’t have it in him.

“You’re beautiful,” Zayn tells Louis with a playful smirk, fingers ruffling his best mate’s hair in a way he knows Louis enjoys when he’s feeling low. “No one in his right mind would walk away from all this.”

“You’re beautiful,” Louis counters, looking up at Zayn seriously, taking in the honeyed brown of his eyes. The darker tint to his skin. Louis is still trying to think of how to describe it, he’s still new to this whole color thing and doesn’t remember all the little nuances. The subtle differences between peach and flesh and tan. Zayn doesn’t give him much chance to muse over it before he’s pulling away from Louis, leaving his friend to snuggle into the couch cushions as he goes in search of something.

Less than a minute later, he’s back, notebook in hand. There’s a pen protruding from between the pages like he’d been writing earlier and left it there to hold his place.

“Hear me out,” Zayn says as he sits back down next to Louis.

Louis automatically tenses up. Nothing good ever follows the words ‘hear me out’. At least not when Zayn says them. Louis opens his mouth to protest but it’s quickly covered by Zayn’s free hand.

“I said, hear me out!” Zayn laughs. Really, he knows Louis a bit too well. You’d think for as well as he does, he’d know better by now.

Louis licks Zayn’s hand, not surprised in the least when Zayn pulls it away with a look of disgust before promptly wiping it on Louis’ trousers.

“That’s gross,” he says, tone flat.

Louis shrugs. “I always do that. You know I always do that.”

“And it’s always gross.”

Louis chuckles. “Then keep your hands off my mouth.”

“I guess I just keep hoping that you’ll grow out of it,” Zayn retorts, still making a face at the spit that shines from the deepest crevices of his hand. He utilizes Louis’ trousers a second time.

“Never,” Louis promises, unbothered by Zayn using his clothing as a hand towel.

Zayn sighs, shaking his head and opening his notebook.

“You were saying?” Louis glances down at the book, urging Zayn to continue his interrupted speech. “I’m listening.”

“We put out an ad,” Zayn states, clarifying when Louis fixes a stare at him in confusion. “For your soulmate. Tell them to meet you where you bumped into each other. Give them a chance to explain.”

“That’ll never work,” Louis dismisses the idea. He’d been stupid enough to get his hopes up for a moment but there are so many problems with this idea. What if they never see the ad? What if the wrong person sees the ad and lies about being Louis’ soulmate? He voices his concerns to Zayn but the other boy brushes them off.

“First of all, no one can fake being someone’s soulmate, Lou. At least, not for long. Trust me, you’ll know if they are or not. And second, do you really think the universe is going to give you a soulmate and not do everything in its power to make sure you end up together?”

Louis laughs bitterly. “Not everyone ends up with their soulmate, Zayn. Your logic is flawed.”

“I’m not talking about everyone, Lou. I’m talking about you. You deserve this. More than anyone else I know. And personally, I’m going to be really fucking offended if the universe doesn’t work her magic in your favor.”

Zayn has never been so impassioned before, at least not that Louis has seen, and it makes his chest feel tight just knowing that he feels this way on Louis’ behalf.

Louis can’t resist throwing his arms around his best friend’s neck. “Thank you, Z. It means a lot to me that you believe that.”

“I’ll always believe that,” Zayn promises into Louis’ hair, “even if you don’t.”

***H***

Harry is finishing his breakfast when Liam arrives at his flat. He doesn’t knock, just uses the key Harry gave him ages ago and walks right in. It’s a good thing Harry has such good hearing because Liam’s one of those people that’s really good at sneaking up on people even when he doesn’t mean to.

“You should wear a bell,” Harry says, dropping his fork onto his empty plate.

There’s a rustle of paper and a footstep that lands just a bit harder than the ones before it. That, along with his sharp intake of breath, suggests that Harry’s the one who’s done the startling.

“Sorry,” Harry tells him, rising from his chair to put his dishes in the sink. He’s endlessly amused at the thought that he, of all people, could frighten anyone. “Didn’t mean to scare you. What’s got you so engrossed, anyway?”

The sharp thwack of a newspaper landing on his dining table immediately answers his question. 

Liam is fond of reading the “Missed Connections” in the personal ads. Harry doesn’t know why, Liam’s already found his soulmate, but he enjoys it when Liam reads them to him as well. He’s just optimistic enough to hope that the people placing the ads eventually find who they’re looking for, that the person they’re looking for can give them what they need most.

Even though he already knows the answer, Harry’s a bit miffed when Liam doesn’t answer the question. He doesn’t actually say anything for probably a solid minute. Harry knows someone’s there and he knows without a shadow of a doubt that person is Liam. He didn’t think Liam was cruel enough to play this game with him.

“Harry?” Liam addresses him, finally, but he sounds off somehow, confused. “Did you make me breakfast?”

“What?” Harry throws over his shoulder as he washes his plate.

“You’ve got a whole ‘nother plate of food here. Is it for me?”

Harry pauses in his washing. He did make two plates of food, didn’t he? It’s weird because he’d just kind of done it on autopilot, setting a second spot at his table without even thinking about it. He must have been thinking somewhere in the back of his mind about Liam coming over to pick him up. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“I mean, were you expecting someone else?” Liam asks, sounding hesitant to eat the food if it wasn’t intended for him.

“Who else would I be expecting, Liam?” Harry asks, taking up his washing again. “Sit down. Eat. We still have a few minutes before we have to leave, right?”

“Yeah, a few,” Liam answers and Harry hears the telltale scrape of a chair being pulled back from the table. “There’s something interesting in the missed connections this morning.”

“Yeah? What’s that?” Harry asks, his mind still absorbed in thoughts of the extra plate of food as he remembers another strange thing he’d done last night. He’d made an extra cup of tea. And he definitely hadn’t been expecting Liam to pop over then. Weird.

“Someone’s trying to find their soulmate,” Liam tells Harry, fork scraping over his plate as he eats.

Harry chuckles, rinsing his clean dishes and putting them in the drying rack. “Aren’t we all?”

“No, I mean, he literally bumped into them,” Liam explains, “as in, he can see color now. But when he turned around, they were gone.”

The concept of color is pretty lost on Harry. He’s never seen the shades of black and white that most people see whether or not they find their soulmate so he’s really got nothing to go on. He can imagine that suddenly seeing the world in color would be a bit like him suddenly being able to see anything. He thinks that it would be amazing but it’s obviously nothing he couldn’t live without, certainly not a good substitute for finding that one person that’s meant to belong with you. He feels inexplicably sad for this man he’s never met. “That’s terrible. Why wouldn’t they stay?”

“I dunno, maybe they were late for something really important,” Liam answers around another bite of food.

Harry can’t imagine that he’d leave even if it was important, at least not without saying something. Exchanging numbers, maybe. He’d be willing to be late if it was for his soulmate. “That’s a stupid reason to leave. Poor guy. No one deserves that.”

Liam hums in what Harry chooses to believe is agreement as he takes another bite of his food. He swallows before speaking again. “The really interesting part is where he wants to meet them.”

Harry turns around, facing the direction Liam’s voice is coming from, and leans against the counter. “And where is that?”

“A tube station,” Liam answers, paper rustling in his hands again. “Yours, actually.”

“Hmm,” Harry murmurs, wondering if that’s where it happened. Maybe he walked right by two soulmates touching for the first time. It’s kind of romantic, except the part where one of them walked away without a word. “That is interesting. When are they supposed to meet?”

“Um.” Harry can hear the crinkling of the paper as Liam searches for the answer. “He says he’ll be there at half eight every morning this week. He’ll be waiting next to the Oyster card readers, wearing a green scarf.”

Harry hopes this guy finds who he’s looking for. He imagines being there, sitting on a bench as he waits for his train, maybe hearing them as they have a happy reunion. Maybe they would sit next to him and ask each other questions, getting to know the person who will surely be the love of their life with Harry there to witness it all. He smiles at the thought, it’s the only way he can imagine he’ll ever get to be a part of one of the stories he imagines in his head, a bystander in someone else’s fairytale. Maybe it should make him sad but he can’t bring himself to feel self-pity in the face of true love, even if it might never be his own.

**@L@**

Louis is really fucking nervous. 

He stands on shaky legs, constantly rearranging the scarf around his necklaces he waits for a soulmate that may not be coming. He should have let Zayn and Niall come with him but then he would have had to endure their constant teasing while also feeling like there was a hive of angry bees in his belly. Or, possibly, he would have had to face their looks of pity. But, who knows, maybe if he has no luck today, he’ll still get to see those. Something to not look forward to. 

Louis straightens up when he sees a man walking his way. He’s obviously older than Louis with salt and pepper hair, but Louis really has no complaints if this is his soulmate. Except, apparently he’s not because he keeps walking, straight past Louis and to one of the Oyster Card machines. He probably shouldn’t have picked a spot where lots of people have to pass by him to get to something else. 

After half an hour, Louis is about to give up for the day when he notices a couple of men at the other end of the machines. He thinks he remembers seeing them there earlier and wonders what they’re doing. Maybe one of them is his soulmate and they’re afraid to come over. He watches them for a moment, considering walking over, when he notices one of them try a subtle glance his way. The man’s eyes widen and his jaw drops in shock when he sees Louis looking back and he quickly glances away again. 

Oh shit!, Louis thinks he says before he’s pulling the other man away and toward the train. 

Louis squints after them in confusion. What the fuck was that about?

  
  


**(-_Q) *H* (-_Q)**

“Liam! What the hell was that?” Harry asks as soon as they’re safely on the train and Liam has stopped dragging Harry behind him.

The sound of several gasps reminds Harry of where they are and he winces, waving a hand in apology to all those in the general vicinity. “Sorry.”

“Liam,” he hisses quietly instead, though it’s definitely not going to make any difference now.

“Sorry, Harry. He noticed us,” Liam hisses back, the sound of panic still in his tone.

“And??” Harry asks incredulously. “It’s a railway station! He probably also noticed the other three thousand people standing around, too!”

“No, but… he looked right at me, Harry.”

Harry sighs, slapping a hand to his face and pulling it down dramatically.

Liam huffs at the sight of him. At least, Harry assumes it’s at the sight of him. “Well, I’m not exactly an MI6 spy, am I? What was I supposed to do?”

“I dunno, act like you were talking to me? Act like you were buying an Oyster card? Act like you were waiting for a train??” 

“Ha. Ha,” Liam grouses, “you’re welcome for helping you be a voyeur for half an hour anyway. You’re just lucky I have a flexible work schedule. How were you even going to explain being late every day this week??”

Harry sighs again, irritation fading quickly. He’s not even sure why he was so agitated, but he feels inordinately sad for the man waiting at the Oyster card machines. “Thank you for going with me, Liam. I guess, I was hoping he’d find his soulmate this morning and I’d only have to make one excuse. That poor guy.”

“He’ll find them,” Liam says, placing a hand on Harry’s shoulder like he’s the one who needs consoling. And he has no idea why but it feels a little like he is.

“Why are they making it so hard on him?”

“Maybe they haven’t seen the ad. Maybe they don’t know he’s waiting for them,” Liam suggests and it makes Harry feel a little bit better. “Can I ask you something though?”

“Of course.” 

“I get that you’ve always enjoyed collecting soulmate stories,” Liam starts, and Harry immediately tenses up because he thinks he can guess the question. “But why is this one so important to you?”

The thing is, Harry isn’t entirely sure of the answer to that. 

“I don’t know. Can you imagine how many stories you might be a part of and never know it? Some guy in the background that had a funny stain on his shirt or something. I guess, I like the idea of knowing I’m part of the story even if they’ll never know it. Because I witnessed it, I was there.” Harry didn’t even realize his own need to be part of someone’s story until now, saying it out loud. “And I don’t know, this one calls to me.” Maybe because there’s a missing piece, and Harry has always longed but never allowed himself to dream of being someone’s missing piece. 

“You’ll have your own story one day,” Liam assures him, grasping his arm with a caring hand. “You know that, right?”

“I don’t know that,” Harry frowns. “And I’m okay with not having my own.” At least, he thinks he is. He used to be. Wasn’t he?

“Harry,” Liam breathes and it almost sounds like he’s disappointed in Harry. “Of course you’ll have your own.”

Harry has no response and they’re both quiet for a moment but then something occurs to Harry. 

“Liam?” 

“Yes, Harry?”

“My work was back there.”

“Oh shit!”

Harry laughs until there are tears running down his cheeks. After a minute, Liam joins him. They get off at the next stop and circle back around.

***L***

Second time's the charm, right? Okay, Louis knows that is not the saying but he’s hoping desperately that he doesn’t have to stand here waiting for his soulmate to show up again tomorrow. He’s starting to remember how much he hates wearing scarves.

Fifteen minutes in, he starts thinking he probably will be back here tomorrow. He takes a deep breath and forces himself to remain hopeful. Looking around with renewed gusto, he notices two familiar looking men standing off to the side again. When he’d told Zayn about them yesterday, he’d suggested maybe his ad had garnered the attention of some nosey parkers who wanted to catch a glimpse of him making a fool of himself. Or perhaps they genuinely want to see Louis get his happy ending. 

He looks away almost as soon as he notices them, not wanting to scare them off again. He finds a strange sort of comfort knowing they’re there, like even if he goes home without knowing his soulmate again, at least he’s not alone in his journey to find them. 

“Excuse me,” someone says, Louis’ heart lifting at the possibility as he turns his eyes to meet theirs. 

“Hi,” he smiles at them, taking in their shirt with the words Gender Queer emblazoned across the chest as they take a step to the side.

“Hi,” they return, their smile harboring a hint of nerves that adds to Louis’ growing excitement until they take another step away from him. “I’ll just... use this machine over here.”

And just like that, all Louis’ hope is shattered. 

“Oh no. Sorry. This one is free,” Louis tells them, backing away from all the machines and dragging himself over to some stairs to sit on them in a miserable heap. The sounds of people huffing at his audacity, some practically screaming at him, not even registering through his despair.

**:/ H :/**

“Is it them? Is it his soulmate?” Harry asks excitedly.

“No,” Liam answers sadly. “Just someone using the machine again.”

“Oh god, his poor heart,” Harry laments, covering his own heart with a hand. “How much more can he take??”

“Not much, apparently. He’s braving sitting on the stairs.”

“Oh god, he’s suicidal?!?”

Harry knows he’s being slightly dramatic, but not by much. Even he knows that you don’t sit on the stairs in the London Underground. He’d tried it once when he’d gotten overwhelmed his first time on the tube and Liam hadn’t even gotten out his warning to move before someone was screaming at Harry. 

“He doesn’t look like he’s doing well,” Liam confirms.

“Okay, where is he?” Harry asks, taking a bolstering breath. He’s going in. He can’t just stand by and let this guy give up on finding his soulmate. 

“Why? What are you doing?” Liam questions, even as he turns Harry to face the right direction.

“I’m gonna help this guy get his happy ending if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Why? I mean, that’s lovely of you, but why are you so invested in this one guy?”

Harry shakes his head at his friend, unsure why Liam isn’t as invested. “We all deserve a happy ending, Liam.”

“You’re right about that,” Liam agrees softly, his arm bumping into Harry’s as he holds it out to him to let him know it’s there.

Harry takes it, letting Liam lead him to the stranger on the stairs. He takes Harry’s hand and places it on the stranger. Which is a little weird because Harry’s hand ends up on top of the stranger’s head. But it’s even weirder because Harry suddenly feels an unfathomable sense of rightness.

“Uh, excuse me?” The stranger says.

“Shit, sorry,” Harry apologizes automatically, dropping his hand. “I, uh.” He pauses, mentally cursing Liam for making this awkward. “God, this is awkward. I know you don’t know me, but I know what you're searching for and I don’t think you should give up on it.”

He feels a hand wrap around his own and stops talking.

“You’re my soulmate.”

“No, sorry,” Harry starts to correct him, but stops when he feels delicate fingers squeeze his own.

“You are,” the stranger insists. “Can’t you feel that?”

“Feel what?” Harry asks, even though he does feel it. All four of his working senses seem sharpened and for once he feels a strange new fifth sense. A sense of belonging. 

“Sparks,” the stranger replies. “Hi, my name is Louis.”

“Harry,” Harry responds, helping pull him up when it feels like Louis is moving to stand. “And yes, I definitely feel it. Gotta say, I didn’t see it coming though.”

“What?” Louis asks.

“He’s blind,” Liam chirps in helpfully. “And he thinks he’s cute.”

“Oh, can confirm that one,” Louis says. “Not sure about funny though.”

“Heyyy,” Harry pouts. 

Louis laughs. And what a beautiful sound it is. “Definitely has a good heart though. And that’s worth more than anything.”

**< 3 L&H <3**

In the end, they both get what they were seeking. Louis gets a partner to sicken his friends with on game/movie nights with the sheer shamelessness of their love. Harry doesn’t just get to be a part in someone’s soulmate story, he gets the starring role he never thought he could have. 

And seeing in color? Not that important.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Here is a [fic post](https://fallinglikethis.tumblr.com/post/624192479472779265/monochrome-hearts-5659-words) if you'd like to share it.


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